The Double Room (1)
After the Mage Department's evaluation duels came to an end, Agnes and I were locked up… no, *admitted* to a two-bed hospital room, side by side.
Under normal circumstances, when the death-prevention magic activated, one patient per room was standard procedure. After all, death-prevention magic was a miracle that pulled people back from the brink of death, and the recovery period demanded absolute rest.
But no matter how important that absolute rest was supposed to be, the academy church's patient wards had a fixed number of rooms, so there was no way we could throw a tantrum and demand they split the single room allotted per match into two.
In other words, the room prepared for Agnes and me was only ever meant to be a single-occupancy ward. And so there we were, recovering in a cramped two-bed room with a spare bed hastily shoved in, Agnes and I both.
"How are you feeling, Lady Agnes?"
"...It hurts. It throbs."
"Whose fault is that, using explosive magic at point-blank range like that? Once you cast something like a self-destruct skill, it was obvious you'd get caught in the blast too."
"It's not my explosion magic that hurts. It's the place where your dagger went through my heart."
"......"
If you put it that way, what does that make me? Now I feel guilty all over again for no reason.
Well, either way, neither of us had held back — that much was true for both of us.
If I hadn't fought quite so ferociously that day, this room would probably have just me lying in it alone. Scorched to a crisp, trapped inside Agnes's closing walls of the Flame Citadel.
In terms of momentary pain, an explosion was actually a bit better than full-body burns. ...Setting aside the fact that the recovery period stretches out a little longer.
"Still, maybe it's a blessing in disguise that we went down together in a double KO."
"...What do you mean?"
"If I visited your hospital room right now, weird rumors would start spreading again, wouldn't they? People saying we fought like we wanted to kill each other, only to make up in the end. After you went through all the trouble of setting up an evaluation duel just to dodge Prince McHart, calling off the rumor you'd worked so hard to spread would leave you terribly shortchanged, wouldn't it, Lady Agnes?"
After all, I'd needed to sit down with Agnes one more time to explain the plan for luring in McHart anyway, and by ending up in the same hospital room via double KO, that problem had solved itself.
On top of that, gathering Ethan, Gehmajoshigi-gwat, and Serista would be much easier with this room, too. Ethan and Gehmajoshigi-gwat could come in under the pretext of visiting Agnes and me respectively, and Serista was a Divinity student in the first place, so it wouldn't be the least bit strange for her to be flitting in and out of the patient ward.
"...I don't agree with that."
"Pardon?"
"Why would you come visit my room? Doesn't that mean if we hadn't died at the same time, you would have lost?"
"Well, Lady Agnes got stabbed by my dagger first. You were cornered into choosing between collapsing right there or going for a double KO, and the self-destruct spell was what you used in that moment — so it's my win by decision. We should give credit where credit is due."
"No, the decision says *I* won. The cause of death for both of us was my explosion magic either way, so you, Lilith, took it at closer range and died first. Which means I won."
"And I'm telling you, the one who forced you into those choices was my dagger in the first—"
—Creeeak!
"Lady Lilith! Lady Agnes! I told you both to stop getting worked up and rest!"
"...I'm sorry."
"......"
The heated win-loss dispute between Agnes and me was quashed in an instant by Serista, who had come in from outside the room.
Judging by the way even the notoriously stubborn Agnes went meek and docile in front of the priestess who was mending her wounds, it seemed that even in this fantasy world, the Church was the Church.
"Please remember that both of you were transported here to the church by the death-prevention magic. Lady Lilith in particular took the explosion magic at closer range, so she absolutely must rest properly."
"Yes, I'll keep that in mind."
"See? Lilith's injuries being worse just means I—"
"Lady Agnes, you were hit by the very same explosion magic — what exactly are you trying to say?! And your wounds mix explosion trauma with lacerations, so your treatment is every bit as complicated, I'll have you know!"
"...Fine."
Really, who told her to act cocky in front of her healer? If you've done wrong like I have, you shut your mouth and stay quiet.
Having shot Agnes a slightly smug little smile as she got a well-deserved scolding for that one thoughtless remark, I watched the door open once more, and a familiar face stepped into the room.
—Creeeak.
"Lilith, how are you feeling?"
"You've come, Master Ethan."
Despite clearly having rushed over, Ethan strolled into Agnes's and my room with an air of perfect nonchalance.
Judging by the sweat dripping down his whole body, he'd come straight from the end of his own evaluation duel.
"Did you finish your evaluation duel, Master Ethan?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry I couldn't come watch, Master Ethan."
"Don't worry about it. You're a patient right now, Lilith. If anything, I'd feel bad asking you to watch."
"But I knew you would win regardless. Congratulations, Master Ethan."
"I know. Thanks, Lilith."
With those words, he came naturally to my bedside and set down a basket of fruit, then coolly pulled an apple out of it and began trying to peel it with a fruit knife.
"Ah — allow me, Master Ethan."
"You're the patient, Lilith. Just rest."
"You'll hurt your hand like that. I can peel an apple just fine in this state, you know..."
"Stay still, I said. I've spent years swinging a sword — you think I can't manage a fruit knife?"
"...Understood."
For all that, I figured the weight of a fruit knife in hand would feel completely different from the longsword he carried around every day.
Just as I'd predicted, Ethan brought the knife to the top of the apple and started hacking away with a grimace, but to someone who'd only ever wielded a longsword for years, the feather-light weight of a fruit knife was clearly far from familiar.
—Rustle, rustle.
"......"
"One moment, Master Ethan. Aren't you moving the blade far too much in a 'straight line'?"
"...You're right. I certainly wasn't planning on cutting the flat at a perfect 'right angle.'"
"The cut seems far too 'flat,' Master Ethan. If you peel it that way, you'll shave off the flesh along with the skin and waste half the apple."
"I thought I was quite practiced with blades after all these years, but it seems I'm still a 'novice' when it comes to fruit knives. I'll try again, so watch closely and tell me how it's done, Lilith."
"Ah, wait a moment. If you peel it that 'flatly' from there..."
"...Whew. This is harder than I expected. It looked so easy when you do it, Lilith. You've shaved off so much the apple's turned into a complete little 'stubby' lump."
"I'm grateful all the same, Master Ethan. You were peeling it with me in mind, after all. Even if the slices came out a little 'short,' the taste doesn't change."
"...Are you two doing that on purpose?"
"Pardon?"
"What is she talking about?"
For reasons beyond my comprehension, Agnes, who'd been listening to our conversation, rounded on Ethan and me with a somewhat explosive voice — and while she was at it, the door opened once again to admit a new visitor.
—Creeeak.
"Agnes, Lilgir... Lilith, how are you feeling?"
It was Gehmajoshigi-gwat, entering the room with a fruit basket in hand just like Ethan. Well, that made sense — if Ethan's match was over, then Gehmajoshigi-gwat's, which had come earlier in the order, must have been finished as well.
"...Same as ever. Serista says if I rest properly, I'll heal."
"Both Lady Agnes and Lady Lilith's injuries are severe, to be sure, but recovery itself shouldn't be too difficult. You both only took damage to critical points, after all — treat those areas with focus and you'll be fine."
"Really? That's a relief, then. When I saw Agnes use explosion magic, I just assumed the recovery would take ages."
"The initial treatment when you were both transported to the church by the death-prevention magic was excellent. Apparently because they'd treated Lady Luke last year when she was blown across the arena by a mana bomb, everyone felt these injuries didn't seem like such a big deal by comparison."
"......"
Hearing about my match with Luke from last year's evaluation drop out of nowhere, I had no choice but to avert my eyes with great effort.
I'd only used Mana Blast back then because there was no other way to win — but it seems her injuries had been far worse than I'd realized.
Yes, Mana Blast was clearly never meant as an anti-personnel spell. That was something you saved for large monsters and full-scale monster subjugations.
"By the way, why are you later than that Blackwood fellow? We agreed to have our meeting once your evaluation duels were done today, didn't we? You're the Hero — your match should have finished before Blackwood's. You're ranked higher, too."
"That's true, but there was something I wanted to check on first."
"Something to check on?"
"I heard the results of Agnes and Lil... Lilith's evaluation duel had come out. I figured you two would be curious, so I went to confirm it before coming — kill two birds with one stone."
"I won, didn't I?!"
"I won, didn't I?!"
Seeing Agnes and me blurt that out almost simultaneously, Serista quietly shook her head with a pitying look — but what mattered to us right now was, in fact, the result of our duel.
"Agnes won. The verdict said Lilith's death was registered about 0.04 seconds faster."
"See? I told you I won."
"No, you can't make a ruling like that. The one who landed the fatal blow first was me, not Lady Ag—"
"There's no point arguing with me about it. And when it's a simultaneous-death ruling, the call always goes by who died first — what are you going to do about that? Lil... Lilith, you know that as well as anyone, if you're a student who's completing the Luminor Academy p...lan."
...Well, yes, I did know. I knew all about the Academy's victory-evaluation rules in the event of a draw.
But that didn't make it any less unfair. If it had been real combat rather than a duel fought from a fixed starting distance, it would have amounted to my win all the same.
"We'll face each other again in next year's evaluation, Lady Agnes."
"Huh? Why would I? You're weak, Lilith."
"If we fight again, I can win!"
"Mm. I'm challenging someone else next time. If you're that bitter, take the top seat from me and challenge me yourself."
"Ughhhhh!"
"L-Lady Lilith! You must rest for a while yet, I told you!"
...If the starting distance had been just five meters closer, I would have won for certain.
In that moment, I felt a fresh surge of indignation at the Mage Department's term-end evaluation rules — rules that put me at a disadvantage alone.